1990s LA police beating victim Rodney King found dead

[Yeagermeister]

In the middle of the night of March 3, 1991, King, a paroled robber, drove a vehicle at speeds over one hundred miles-per-hour on a Southern California freeway. He was pursued by California Highway Patrol officers who requested Los Angeles Police Department assistance when King exited the freeway and continued driving recklessly on surface streets. Once stopped, King's two passengers complied with police orders to get out of the car and submit to arrest. King eventually got out of the car and performed a bizarre "dance." He was sweating, laughing and talking irrationally, and many officers on the scene believed he was on drugs, most likely PCP.

The sergeant on the scene ordered four officers to approach and handcuff King, but King threw them off. The sergeant used a Taser electronic stun device on King, who fell to the ground. At that moment, a bystander across the street began videotaping the event. King rose to his feet and charged an officer who delivered a baton blow to King's upper body simultaneously with the sergeant's use of the Taser device again. King fell to the ground and sustained an ugly facial wound. King repeatedly attempted to regain his footing as two officers kicked and used police batons on him for well over a minute as the amateur video camera recorded the action.


Funny how the 2 other men with King did not have any trouble. They did as they were told. King resisted and fought back the end results was caught on tape but that was only a fraction of what took place.

It was nice of the person filming to start once King was on the ground instead of from when he was pulled over.

The cops and King were wrong.

 

[jnday]

It was nice of the person filming to start once King was on the ground instead of from when he was pulled over.

The cops and King were wrong.

IIRC there was more footage than just the beatdown, but it didn't get the air play by the media.

 

[Yeagermeister]

IIRC there was more footage than just the beatdown, but it didn't get the air play by the media.

No shocker

 

[TellerMorrow34]

King was stupid and in the wrong. He knows it and pretty much 99.9% of the world who've seen the whole thing knows it.


At the same time, without a doubt, the police did go to far. It could have been stopped before it was, they went further than needed, but that's just my opinion.

The situation was made far worse than it ever had to be by 4 cops losing their cool because a drug head was out of his mind high and being just as stupid.


Terrible all around situation.



But as bad as the situation was, as stupid as all 5 that were involved were, they all pale in comparison to the idiots who rioted and ran around like morons after that.

 

[wittenacious]

King was stupid and in the wrong. He knows it and pretty much 99.9% of the world who've seen the whole thing knows it.

At the same time, without a doubt, the police did go to far. It could have been stopped before it was, they went further than needed, but that's just my opinion.

The situation was made far worse than it ever had to be by 4 cops losing their cool because a drug head was out of his mind high and being just as stupid.

Terrible all around situation.

But as bad as the situation was, as stupid as all 5 that were involved were, they all pale in comparison to the idiots who rioted and ran around like morons after that.

I agree, though I can understand how the specific powder keg of events that played out in front of the public pushed a lot of people over the edge. Civil retaliation can be a terrible thing, when and if provoked. History proves that.

Bad situation, first kicked off by Rodney King's actions, responded to egregiously by almost everyone that followed: from the over-the-top beatings by the cops involved, to those who started and destructively participated in the LA riots ... including the savage beating of Reginald Denny.

In hindsight, virtually none of what happened was held in appropriate check. Case of everything taken WAY too far, each step along the way. Wholly regrettable initial set of circumstances that turned into a wholly regrettable subsequent chain of events, IMO.